At the beginning of the 19th century, Tsar Alexander I—influenced by the disintegration of the serf system, the trend toward industrialization and modernization, and the democratic ideas of the French Revolution—tried to institute new educational reforms. The statutes of 1803 and 1804 followed the pattern set by Peter I (the Great) and Catherine II (the Great) in the 18th century for utilitarian, scientific, and secular education. The old Catherinian schools were remodeled and new schools founded. Schools were to be free and under state control. Rural peasants were to be taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and elements of agriculture ... (100 of 123,991 words)